Victory – Murdoch withdraws BSkyB bid

The BBC is reporting that “Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has announced that it is dropping its planned bid to take full ownership of satellite broadcaster BSkyB.”

38 Degrees members started campaigning against Murdoch’s BSkyB powergrab back in July last year. Along with our friends at Avaaz, some great campaigning journalism from the Guardian and lots of other groups we’ve shown that people power works.

We’ll update this blog with the latest news and more details soon. You can read how the campaign unfolded here.

Update:
Here are some pictures of how the campaign unfolded:

Update 2 – here are some comments from Twitter:

Update 3:
We didn’t do it alone. As well as hundreds of thousands of 38 Degrees members there were lots of other groups working hard to stop Murdoch’s BSKyB powergrab. Here’s a non-exhaustive list:
– Our friends at Avaaz and Hacked Off
– The press. Some journalists worked tirelessly to expose the phone hacking scandal including The Guardian and the New York Times
– Some MPs have been speaking about this for some time including Tom Watson MP and Chris Bryant MP
– Celebrities, including Hugh Grant, also worked hard to stop Murdoch’s BskyB campaign and to expose the phone hacking scandal
– An incredible social media campaign

Update 4:
Some comments from Facebook:
– John: “this result shows that democracy and the will of the people can and does win,well done everyone.”
– Jo: “People 1 Murdoch 0”
– Stuart: “a landmark in people power through social networking & the web! … Use this victory to keep going – gather momentum and change the media landscape for the better and in turn make this a more democratic & free country”
– Christopher: “Brilliant job 38 degrees and Avaaz but especially The Guardian. Not giving up when it matters can pay off!”
– Gideon: “YES!”

And from the blog comments, Stephen: “I thought we were going to lose at many different points, but after the NOTW it seems politicians are standing up to Murdoch and his grip is loosening”